People almost fall over when I tell them that I shop for four people on less than $100 a week including meat, fruit, veg and the occasional luxury.
My husband travels a lot, sometimes 2-3 days every week which means there are some nights when I don’t have to cook for four people. The kids don’t eat too much (they are only 2 and 3 years old) so thawing out and cooking a meal based on 500g of meat + extra ingredients just’doesn’t’make economical sense. And let’s face it; we’re busy enough without creating any extra work for ourselves!
Here are some tips that I use which saves our family money:
1. Upsize it!
You can bulk up a lot of meals (e.g. lasagne, quiches, casseroles, spaghetti bolognaise) with assorted grated veggies. These could include carrots, zucchini, potato, pumpkin, eggplant, sweet potato, anything you have in the fridge (some people use rice too). Not only does this make your meal go further (you’ll be surprised how much further it goes), but because they are grated up into small pieces, picky kids don’t know they’re eating veges. Make extra serves and freeze them in small plastic take away containers which you can usually buy for about $4 for 5-pack. I wait until they are marked down (they are quite often marked down to half price) then I buy 20 of them.
Recommended Recipe: – Chicken and Vegetable Casserole
2. Waste not, want not!
Pop your leftovers in these plastic containers, write on them what they are and quantities (if necessary) and what date they were cooked. I don’t write a date on them because they are usually eaten within a week or two in our house. Save leftovers for those lazy Sunday nights or like me, when you only have a couple of hungry mouths to feed. These containers are microwavable which means they are great for partners to take to work for lunch as well. No more boring ham and cheese sandwiches that go soggy by lunchtime!
Recommended Recipe: Mince Wellington
3. Make extra!
For example, when I make a lasagne, I bulk the recipe up with as many veggies as I can. My cheap recipe that uses 500g of mince (about $5) ends up making a large lasagne that feeds 6 people as well as a smaller one which feeds 2-3 people. This is perfect for when my husband is away and it is only me and the kids. This also goes for casseroles, spaghetti bolognaise and numerous other recipes. You are only limited by your imagination. It takes me an extra 5 minutes to make the extra meal. If there are uncooked meals ready to go in the freezer, you’re less likely to order out for takeaway.
Recommended Recipe: Bulk Spaghetti Bolognaise
4. Make your own!
I have recently (within the past 12 months) started making my own pasta, spaghetti and pizza bases. It is easier, cheaper and tastier than the ready-made stuff. I’ve calculated that making enough pasta for 1-2 meals cost me about $0.80 and about the same for two pizza bases (yes, two pizza bases!!). Yes, it takes a little while (about 20 minutes) but I can guarantee you, once you taste and feel the difference, you will never buy the packet stuff again.
Buy meat in bulk when it goes on special. I have recently come across a great recipe on the SAHM website called “Slowcooker Chutney Lamb Chops.” The whole family loves them and they ask for it regularly. Now, lamb chop aren’t the cheapest cut of meat in the butcher but when they go on special I buy them in 2kg lots, enough for 2-3 meals.
Raid the freezer! You’d be surprised how quickly you can accumulate “extras” in the freezer and pantry. Every 2-3 months, empty your freezer and pantry out, itemise everything plan your meals using those ingredients.
Recommended Recipe: Homemade Bread Rolls
5. Get with the times! Shop online.
I have been shopping online now for 4 years. Would you believe I have NEVER, not once, been grocery shopping with my kids? When I shop online, I go straight to the “Specials” page on the shopping website, see what meat is on special and use that as a guide for my weekly meal plan. I very rarely pay full price for meat. The good thing about online shopping is that you can type in “shampoo” and you can sort the results into unit price order. You automatically have the cheapest brand at the top of the list and you scroll down until you find a brand that you’re happy with at a great price. Yes, delivery costs $5 but I easily save between $50-$75 by shopping online (no impulse buys!). And, no cranky hungry kids in tow!
Recommended Recipe: Golden Bake
6. Don’t be afraid to slum it!
My husband is embarrassed when our shopping is delivered because 90% of our shopping is generic brands. I don’t see the difference between a brand name white sugar and the generic white sugar except for some fancy packaging so why pay an extra dollar? Try it and if you don’t like it, all you’ve really done is saved yourself some $.
Recommended Recipe: Frugal Chocolate Mud Cake
What are your hot tips to save cash in the kitchen?
(Guest blog written by Dayl Kelly)
Responses to “6 Ways To Save Cash In The Kitchen”
We buy our takeaway plastic containers in bulk from a party shop. Is about $13 for 50 of them.
Thank you for the tips. The only thing I wonder about is your shopping budget. As a family of 3 my fruit and vegetable budget alone is $50 a week. We all eat at least 3 pieces of fruit a day and lots of salads and vegetables. How do you keep your budget so low? Do you still eat lots of fruit and vegetables?
Regina101 where do you buy your fruit and veg from and what do you buy? I buy my fresh produce from my local market on a sunday and buy for the week. They are local farmers and it is really good quality for alot cheaper than a fruit shop or your majors like coles, woolies, aldi. It took a few sundays to check out each market in my area but it was fun too. Something to do sunday morning for a hour or so and the kids loved going too 🙂 We did the same to find our butcher…tried out the two butchers in our area then asked them about what packs they could make up with what we wanted to buy. They are happy to do it 🙂 It takes a little work but it pays off in the end when your saving the $$$
I would def struggle to keep to this budget, we are already quite frugal but with 3 kids we spend around $200 week,we do eat meat everyday and lots of fruit and veg but not much prepacked produce. I am inspired though and I’m going to try and reduce our bill, I don’t think we’ll ever get it down to this but I will certainly try. Would this budget include toiletries as well, living in townsville we get through a lot of deodrant!
Sometimes i just go into the shop with $50 and decide thats all im spending on groceries for the week, mainly cos im broke most of the time, but as long as theres school lunches, fruit for school im happy 🙂 and to save money where pets are concerned as pet food is expensive, and i have many pets, i find that instead of tinned cat food, once or twice a week the cats get some meat scraps for tea instead, and the guinea pigs just love the kids weetbix biscuits which saves me buying $8 box of special guinea pig food lol
on really busy days dinner can be some $1 pasta and a $2 jar of pesto which feeds 4 of us with leftovers for hubbys lunch the next day!
and i was given a bunnings giftcard as a present so invested in a vegie garden! kids loveeeed the home grown corn and love watching the cucumbers tomatoes and capsicums develop and grow too 🙂